Holder for elongated articles

ABSTRACT

A rectangular, rigid holder having at least one angled channel at frontal part of holder for suspending elongated articles in cantilever fashion. The holder has means for wall mountability.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

This invention relates to article holders, specifically to such holders where articles suspended above ground by gravity.

2. Background of the Invention

Article holders been used to keep brooms, mops, rakes etc. organized at the workplace and at home. Efforts have been made to design holders which are easy and fast to operate, reliable and inexpensive.

One type of holders have means to support wider parts of articles, but as a drawback, articles have to be turned upside down.

Other holders use hooks to suspend articles by holes or loopy extensions present in some articles. To use these you have to slow down substantially besides the obvious limitation that not all articles have holes or loops.

Numerous holders employ moving spherical or cylindrical members to wedge articles in suspended positions, as in U.S. Pat. No. 2,953,255 to Higgins (1960), U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,350 to Grottola et al. (1966), U.S. Pat. No. 3,422,960 to Ell et al. (1969), U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,499 to Joswig (1979), U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,629 to Breveglieri (1992), U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,010 to Huang (1994). These could be complex to manufacture and they require upward motion to engage and disengage articles.

My invention is related to holders in U.S. Pat. No. 961,234 to Hoover (1910), U.S. Pat. No. 1,206,655 to Belcher (1916), U.S. Pat. No. 1,398,127 to Collins (1921), U.S. Pat. No. 1,447,579 to Thomas (1923), U.S. Pat. No. 1,971,993 to Schlosser (1934), U.S. Pat. No. 2,020,274 to Bateman (1935), U.S. Pat. No. 2,046,825 to Kneff (1936), U.S. Pat. No. 2,422,891 to Dickson (1947), U.S. Pat. No. 2,488,664 to Gruber (1949), U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,124 to Cole (1985), U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,038 to Johnson (1989), U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,192 to Vom Braucke et. al. (1989), U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,066 to McArdle (1993), U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,236 to Williams (1996), U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,043 to Baptista (1997). They use cantilever principle through stationary or pivoting members with notches or holes to suspend articles. However these holders require elaborate movements to engage and disengage and in most cases the use of two hands.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION—OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:

-   -   (a) to provide a holder which is easier and faster to use;     -   (b) to provide a holder whose simple design and single material         allows an inexpensive and rapid manufacture;     -   (c) to provide a holder which has an extended life through its         sturdy design without moving parts;     -   (d) to provide a holder which keeps articles suspended flush         against the wall, out of way;     -   (e) to provide a holder which keeps articles apart without         overlapping;     -   (f) to provide a holder which allows for a one handed operation;         and     -   (g) to provide a holder which accommodate different article         width with a channel of one size.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present invention a holder comprises a rectangular body having at least one angled channel to receive elongated articles and means for mounting.

DRAWINGS—FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the holder.

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the holder taken on the lines 1-1 and 2-2 of FIG. 1, with inserted article demonstrating principle.

FIG. 3 shows a front view of the holder with articles suspended.

FIGS. 4 to 8 show perspective view of alternative embodiments of holder. DRAWINGS-REFERENCE NUMERALS 10 base of holder 12 channels 14 holes for mounting 16 pegs 18 hooks

DETAILED DESCRIPTION—FIGS. 1, 2 AND 3—PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred embodiment of the holder of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 (perspective view), FIG. 2 (sectional view) and FIG. 3 (front view). The holder consists of one piece of rectangular, rigid material, with six evenly spaced, radially arranged channels molded or machined into front surface of member, all extending from top to bottom. The angles of the three channels on one half of holder—as measured against side wall—are 24 degrees, 44 degrees and 54 degrees progressing from center to end, the other side mirrors these measurements. In the preferred embodiment the material is plastic, however the member can consist of other rigid materials such as wood, chipboard, hard rubber, metal.

The holder also features two holes for mounting, placed in center of back wall of the two outermost channels, piercing holder completely.

The holder is about 36′ in length, 4″ in height and 3″ in depth. The channels are about 1½″ wide and 1½″ deep. The mounting holes are ¼″ in diameter.

FIGS. 4-8—Alternative Embodiments

The embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is simply one half of the preferred embodiment, in case it is desired that the articles hung in only one direction. In the embodiment in FIG. 5 the channels have identical angles and spaced farther apart to keep the article's wider parts apart. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment where the holder is formed from a thin, wide strip of resilient material following the contours of the front features of the original holder. In the holder of FIG. 7 the channels and the dividers between channels are replaced with round pegs, the pegs placed where suspended articles would contact the side walls of the channels. FIG. 8 shows the holder of FIG. 1 with hooks added.

Operation

The manner of using the holder to support articles consists of the following steps:

-   -   (a) Mounting holder on wall or other suitable scaffolding with         longitudinal axis of holder following horizontal direction.     -   (b) Turning elongated article with wider portion down keeping         flatter dimension of wider portion parallel with holder and         inserting end part of elongated portion in a channel.     -   (c) While keeping article at same height and inside channel,         allowing weight of article turn elongated portion until it         engages sides of channel, at which point abandoning article.

CONCLUSION, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE

Accordingly, the reader will see that the holder of this invention can be used to store articles with minimal change to the articles' operational position, with a use of one hand with minimal effort and without the need to touch other articles or the holder. Furthermore the holder allows articles to be separated from each other ruling out entanglement, yet occupy minimal space into the room. Holder allows for easy and quick installation. The holder is quick, easy and cost effective to manufacture but provides a holder with a long life. The channels accommodate a wide range of article diameters with a uniform size.

Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. For example, edges and corners could be rounded, channels could have liners, holder could be composed of multiple materials, holder could have a built in stand or extentions to be hanged from ceiling etc.

Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given. 

1. A holder for elongated articles comprising a rectangular, rigid member with at least one angled channel, said channel having dimensions to receive elongated articles, whereby upon inserting upper portion of elongated article, said channel's angle allowing said articles to be suspended by said article's weight, in a cantilever fashion.
 2. The holder of claim 1 wherein said channel runs through said member and opens to top, bottom and frontal surface of said member.
 3. The holder of claim 1 wherein said channel's angle to the side wall of said member is between 24 degrees and 54 degrees.
 4. The holder of claim 1 wherein said member has two holes for wall mountability.
 5. The holder of claim 1 wherein a plurality of channels radially arranged with channels evenly spaced, angles of all said channels different, said angles gradually increasing toward both ends of said member, starting at center, achieving a symmetrical look.
 6. The holder of claim 1 wherein half of holder of claim 5 serves as full holder.
 7. The holder of claim 1 wherein said holder is formed from a thin, wide sheet of resilient material, following the contours of front surface of said holder of claim 1, resulting in a hollow holder, said holder's top and bottom surfaces open.
 8. The holder of claim 1 wherein said channels placed farther apart, said channels having identical angles.
 9. The holder of claim 1 wherein said channels and dividers between said channels replaced with round pegs, placed where side walls of said channels would contact suspended articles.
 10. The holder of claim 1 further including hooks, said hooks placed surrounding said channels. 